Baltic Tax Card 2015: Corporate income tax in Latvia

Taxpayers

Taxable objects

Corporate income tax is applied to the profit or loss, which is calculated according to the taxpayer’s financial accounting data and adjusted according to the Corporate Income Tax Law. In general, all types of income are included in the taxable income consisting of:

income earned in Latvia or abroad (for residents);

certain types of income earned in Latvia and listed in the Corporate Income Tax Law (for non-residents);

Tax rate in Latvia

The flat corporate income tax rate is 15% of the taxable income. For reduced tax rates please contact our lawyers and tax advisors.

Taxation of dividends

Payments of dividends between domestics companies are not subject to corporate income tax. Dividends paid to a legal entity – a resident of a European Union member state or a resident of the European Economic Area – are exempt from taxation.

Dividends paid to a legal entity outside the European Union or the European Economic Area, are subject to a 10% tax payable at the time of their payment. Dividends paid to low-tax countries are subject to 15% or 30% tax in case of emergency dividends.

Taxation of income of non-residents

Corporate income tax in Latvia is applied to the following payments to legal entities – non-residents, if they do not have a permanent representative office in Latvia, in accordance with tax rates stipulated in the Corporate Income Tax Law:

management and consulting services – 10%;

income from investments in a partnership – 15%;

interest, if the persons paying and receiving the interest are interconnected – 5 or 10%;

income from intellectual property – 10% or 15%;

compensation for the use of property located in Latvia– 5%;

compensation for expropriation of property located in Latvia– 2%;

payments to persons located in low-tax or tax-free countries or territories – 15%.

Filing tax declarations

Declarations for a particular taxation year shall be filled by taxpayers through the Electronic Declaration System and submitted to the State Revenue Service. Tax declarations shall be submitted simultaneously with the company’s annual report.

Tax payment deadline

Taxpayers shall pay the tax calculated in their tax declarations to the state budget within 15 days of submitting the tax declaration.